StarCraft: Hybrid
StarCraft: Hybrid is a short story set in the StarCraft universe. It was published in Amazing Stories magazine, issue 601. Synopsis Amanda Haley, a psychic medic who used to work on a space station, had been captured and imprisoned along with other members of her crew for a week on a strange space platform. As the other crew members were periodically taken away by the zerg, she tried to muster her psionic strength to disable the phasing cell doors she was familiar with … but they were dampening her power, however. Elsewhere in the space platform, Sarah Kerrigan was testing a process for the creation of intelligent infested terrans. She watched Haley on a monitor, but this only reminded her of when she had been a human prisoner of the Confederacy’s Ghost Program; specifically, the eight-year old test subject of Lieutenant Rumm. Rumm wanted her to use a telepathic assault ability she had displayed once before, but she refused, so Rumm had a kitten injected with a tumor and demanded that Kerrigan kill the tumor. She still refused, even when he pointed his repeating pistol at it. Later that night, he discovered she had telekinetically disabled his weapon. Kerrigan’s newest test subject emerged a brain-dead, malformed creature. Her Cerebrate told her that was due to an “incompatibility” with subjects possessing a “subordinate” gene pattern. Kerrigan sent one of her "drones" to bring Haley to her, but Haley unleashed her own psychic powers, causing its head to explode… just like Kerrigan had accidentally done to her own mother as a young child. (The same incident inflicted brain damage on her father, Patrick.) Haley fled to the platform's hangar, but there were no vehicles to escape with. Instead, she was confronted by Kerrigan herself, and one of her warriors. She was captured again and tested for the gene pattern... but she was found to be incompatible. Kerrigan seemed unwilling to sacrifice Haley, appearing to be lost in thought... Kerrigan's refusals to obey Lieutenant Rumm had led him to try something drastic; he brought her brain-damaged father into an adjoining cell and threatened to inject him with the same tumor-inducing substance that had been inflicted on the kitten. She still refused to cooperate, so he said “so be it” and ordered the injection. Kerrigan warned him she would use her power to kill her father and herself instead of allowing that to happen. Rumm had her implanted with a neuro-adjuster as a result. Kerrigan would never be the same again. Kerrigan didn't find the decision to sacrifice Haley an easy one; the test was a failure and Haley ended up a "brain dead" infested terran. “So be it” said Kerrigan, as she stepped once more into the long, desolate corridor. Characters Major *Amanda Haley – psychic and medic *Sarah Kerrigan – the Queen of Blades *Rumm – Ghost Program officer Supporting *Cerebrate Minor Note: These characters were only mentioned or had little to no role during the story. *Henderson See Also *Infested terran *Sarah Kerrigan *StarCraft: Uprising *Ghost Program Transcript Lord of Ascension. 2009-04-20. Hybrid. StarCraft Legacy. Accessed 2016-08-08. References *Neilson, Micky. "StarCraft: Hybrid." Amazing Stories 601 (Spring 2000): 70-75. *Neilson, Micky. StarCraft: Uprising. New York and Toronto, Ontario: Pocket Books, 2000. ISBN 0-7434-1898-0 (eBook only) *SoMuchMass. 2011-10-22. BlizzCon 2011 - Starcraft 2: Heart of the Swarm - Campaign and Lore Panel (Full). YouTube. Accessed 2011-11-17. Category:Short stories